Court battle, trade war and 5G spell tough 2019 for Apple in China

Court battle, trade war and 5G spell tough 2019 for Apple in China

Apple Inc’s chief executive Tim Cook has his work cut out in China this year.

January 05, 2019

min read

Reuters

Court battle, trade war and 5G spell tough 2019 for Apple in China

The U.S. firm is not expected to have a 5G-enabled phone available in China until 2020, behind rivals like Huawei, Xiaomi Corp and Samsung Electronics.

There are risks integrating 5G too early into high-end smart phones because the technology requires deeply re-designing the devices with multiple new antennas. Given spotty coverage in 2019, gambling on a new design before networks are mature could be more risk than reward, said Darryn Lowe, a partner with Bain & Company. "When you think about 5G, it's a heck of a lot more complicated than an aluminum strip running around the phone," he said